Dispensing machine



Aug. 23,"193s.

F. C. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed July 22, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 23, 1938. F. c. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed Juli "22, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tnverfior.

J Illlll n Aug 23, 1938. F. c. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed July 22, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 fiigihibr,

Aug. 23, 1938. F. c. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed July 22, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 23, 1938 PATENT OFFICE DISPENSING MACHINE Francis C. Du Grenier, Haverhill, Mass, assignor of one-half to Blanche E. Bouchard, Haverhill, Mass.

Application July 22, 1937, Serial No. 155,033

13 Claims.

This invention relates to coin released dispensing machines of the selective type, which are primarily designed to dispense various kinds of candy bars or packages, all of which sell at 5 the same price.

As is well known, there are today a large variety of candy bars or packages on the market which retail for 5 cents and which are usually wrapped in waterproof paper, or Cellophane. These packages are of various sizes and shapes, but usually do not exceed 6 inches in length and 2 inches, or slightly more in width and thickness. On account of the large variety of these packages which are on the market, a large number of com- 15 partments are necessary in each dispensing machine to enable the customer to select any one of the best sellers of these packages.

As such machines must be serviced for the purpose of refilling compartments from which the contents have been, dispensed, it is necessary, as a practical matter, that the capacity of the machine be as great as possible, so that too frequent servicing will not be necessary.

On the other hand, as these machines are almost invariably installed in stores and other places where they will be reasonably well protected from theft, the size of such a machine is a matter of much importance, i. e. there are practical limits as to the width, depth and height of such machines, and the less the space occupied by such a machine, for its capacity, the more desirable the machine.

Another requirement of a machine of the selective type is that the operator shall be able to set the machine quickly and easily, so that when the coin is inserted and the delivery mechanism is operated, the particular package desired by the operator will be delivered. For example, with the chain type of machine, it is necessary first to move the chain to a particular position before the delivery mechanism is operated, and the time required to do this has made such machines so objectionable that they are but little used.

Other requirements are that the purchaser 45 must be able to see the particular package, or a duplicate of it, before he purchases it, and must be able to inspect all the packages, or duplicates thereof, with which the machine is furnished, without having to move any part of the machine,

so that he may readily decide whatparticular package he may wish to purchase.

The objects of my invention are to provide a dispensing machine, of the type above referred to, which will have a maximum capacity for the space which it occupies, which is so arranged that it may be quickly set by the operator, so that a particular package, or a duplicate thereof, will be delivered when the machine is operated, and which is so arranged that the prospective customer may readily inspect a sample of all 5 the packages with which the machine is furnished, without touching the machine.

I accomplish these objects by providing the machine with a vertical stack of compartments at its front side, so that the contents of each compartment will be clearly visible and by providing directly in the rear of each of said compartments one or more supplemental compartments in each of which a package will be placed which is identical with the package in the corresponding front compartment, and by providing a discharging device, which may be readily set opposite the particular compartment containing a package such as is desired, the operation of which is so controlled that when the machine is operated, after being released by the insertion of a coin, the package in the rearmost compartment will first be delivered, and then, on the next operation the package in the next compartment will be delivered and on the final operation, that in the front compartment will be delivered.

For a detailed description of the particular means which I preferably employ reference is now made to the following specification, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in 0 which:--

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the lower portion of a dispensing machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the package containers.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the operating parts of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a detail view at line 4-4 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view at line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view at line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view at line 1--'I of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view at line 88 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view at line 9--9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is detail perspective view of the adjustable ejector.

Fig. 11 is a detail view at line I I1 l of Fig. 12.

Figs. 12 to 15 are position views illustrating the action of the ejector mechanism.

Fig. 16 is a detail view of a modification of the stop mechanism which is employed when three packages are to be delivered by the same carrier.

It will be understood that the mechanism shown in the drawings will be enclosed in a suitable casing and that the only parts which are accessible to the purchaser are the operating handle and the handle for setting the selecting mechanism. It will also be understood. that the operating handle is normally locked and is released when a suitable coin has been inserted.

In the drawings, the front side of the casing I 8 is indicated, which consists of a frame in which a glass window is set, so that the contents of the front compartments, hereinafter referred to, may be readily observed. The casing shown is approximately square in cross section and in practice is of considerable height, as compared with the other dimensions, and it will beunderstood, that, so far as the invention is concerned there are no particular limits, as to its height, depth and width and the number of package receiving compartments contained.

According to my invention, a delivery passage 2%} is formed at the rear side of the casing which extends from top to bottom thereof and opens to a delivery chute 2| at its lower end, which extends towards the front, so that when a package is discharged into the passage 20, it will be delivered to an open trough 22 at the front of the casing, so that the purchaser may easily remove it. A series of horizontally disposed shelves 24. are arranged one over another in spaced relation, from the top nearly to the bottom of the casing, and extend from the front rearward to the passage 20 and transversely for nearly the entire width of the casing. The distance between these shelves in all instances is sufficient to permit a candy bar, or package to be inserted therebetween and is usually varied somewhat according to the variations in size of the candy packages. The width of the shelves is also slightly greater than the length of any candy bar which is likely to be placed in the machine, candy bars being usually ablong in form. A rectangularly shaped frame 25, which is open at top and bottom and is shown in detail in Fig. 2, is slidably mounted on each shelf, each frame being divided into two compartments by a partition 26 at the middle thereof, and each frame being open at one end to permit the package to be inserted therein. In the present instance only two compartments are shown, in each of which a package is to be placed, but my invention is not limited to the provision of only two compartments, as the number may be increased either by increasing the size of the machine, or reduc ing the width of the compartments, the necessary variation for the increased number being hereinafter described. Each frame, which is hereafter termed a carrier, is mounted between guideways and is slidable from a position in front, in which the contents of the front compartment may be readily seen at the front side of the casing, to a position in the rear in which both compartments will be open to the passage 20.

According to my invention, means are provided whereby, when the selecting mechanism, now to be described, is moved to a position to discharge a package from one particular compartment, after a coin has been inserted and the operating handle has been pulled out, the

carrier will be moved rearward until its rear compartment has been moved into the passage 20 so that the package therein will be discharged into the passage, at which point further inward movement will be automatically arrested. Then the carrier will be returned to its initial position and then, on the next operation, the carrier will be moved rearward until the front compartment is in register with the passage 20, so that the package therein will also be delivered thereto.

The combined selecting and ejecting mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 10, and comprises a pointer 28 which is attached to a handle 29, the latter being mounted on a support 30, which is, in turn slidably mounted in a vertical channel bar 3|, on the front of the casing, the sides of said bar forming guideways for said support 30, which is formed of sheet metal and is bent about one of the sides of bar 3! and extended in sliding engagement with the back side of said bar. A horizontally disposed bar 32 is formed integrally with the support 30 and extends rearwardly therefrom nearly to the back side of the casing and in close proximity to the right hand side of the carriers 25. A slide 33 is reciprocally mounted on bar 32, by means of a slot and screw connection, and an auxiliary slide 34 is mounted on slide 33, by a similar connection. A spring 35 is connected to the front end of slide 34 andto an ear 36 at the rear end of slide 33, as shown in Figs. 5 and 10. A dog 31 is mounted on a pivot 38, secured in auxiliary slide 34, and a spring 39 is connected to said dog and to the slide 34 and normally holds the dog against a stopin position to project perpendicularly to the slide 34.

Each carrier 25 is provided with a rigid, right angularly shaped arm 40, the end portion of which extends vertically at one side of the carrier in position tobe engaged by dog 31 when the slides 33 and 34 are moved rearward and it is to be noted that the vertically extending portions of arms 40 are spaced apart, as shown in Fig. 3, so that, while the handle 29 may be set in a position in which the dog 31 will pass between two adjacent arms 45, when moved rearward, it will not be possible to set the handle in aposition in which the dog will engage two adjacent arms 49, simultaneously. Each carrier,

is also provided with a projecting arm 42 near the inner or rear side of the carrier, said arm having a convexly curved end portion which is arranged to be engaged by a stop spring 43 mounted on the guide bar 3|. A series of partitions 44 extend from the front to the rear side of the frame and form guideways for the sides of the carriers, said partitions being spaced apart sufliciently to permit the arms 40 and 42 to extend therebetween. A stop latch 45 is mounted on each partition 44 to swing on a pivot 46, a friction spring 47 being interposed between the head of the pivot and the latch, see Fig. 11, which is adapted to hold the latch in any position into which it may be forced. Said latch is provided with a shoulder 48 and a projecting lug 43, and a dog 50 is pivoted at 5! on the end of the latch and is provided with lugs 52 and 53, which are arranged to engage opposite edges of the latch and limit the swinging movement thereof, relative thereto.

A rigid actuating bar 54 is extended vertically throughout the length of the range of adjustment of the ejector bar 32, and is fixed at its lower end in a sliding rack bar 55, and at its upper end in a similar sliding rack bar 56, bar 56 being suspended from a bar 56, which is supported by a pair of rolls 56, the latter being arranged to run on a horizontal track 56" on the top of the frame. A shaft 58 is journaled in the frame and is extended vertically between said rack bars and has pinions 59 and 60 at its ends engaged with said rack bars, respectively, as shown in Figs. 3 and '7.

Said shaft 58 also has a bevel gear 6| on its lower end, which is in mesh with a similar gear 62 on a shaft 63 mounted in the frame and said shaft 63 has a pinion 64 thereon which is in mesh with a rack on the main operating bar 85, see Fig. 9, the arrangement being such that when bar 65 is pulled outward, shaft 51 will be rotated, causing the rack bars 55, 56 to be drawn rearwardly, thereby carrying the actuator bar 54 in the same direction. By this arrangement bar 54 is positively moved at both ends and is always held in a vertical position. A pair of lugs 66 project from slide 33 and engage opposite sides of bar 54, see Fig. 6, so that, when bar 54 is moved laterally, or rearwardly it will move slide 33 with it.

The operation as thus far described is as follows: The purchaser inspects the packages in the front compartments and moves the handle 29 up or down until the pointer 28 is directly opposite the particular compartment which contains a package such as he desires, and then he inserts a coin and pulls out the operating bar 65, which will have been released by the coin. As a result the shaft 63 will be rotated causing the bar 54 to be moved rearwardly, thereby moving the slide 33, and with it the auxiliary slide 34, through the action of spring 35, in the same direction, causing dog 31, on slide 34, to engage arm 48 of the carrier which is directly in the rear of the pointer, and thereby causing the carrier to be moved rearwardly from the starting position of Fig. 12. As the carrier is moved rearwardly, the arm 42 thereon engages the bottom lug 53 of dog 50, moving the latter to the dotted line position of Fig. 13, and after arm 42 has passed out of engagement with lug 53, dog 50 falls back to the full line position of Fig. 13. By this time, arm 42 will engage shoulder 48 of latch 45, so that further rearward movement of the carrier by slide 34 will be prevented, but by the time this movement of the carrier has been arrested, its rear compartment will have been moved into register with the delivery passage 28, so that the package in the compartment will fall into said passage and subsequently be delivered to the purchaser. The operating bar 65 must, however, be pulled out to its fullest extent, so that, as the rearward movement of the slide 34 has been arrested by the latch 45, during the remainder of the rearward movement of bar 54, as slide 34 will be held stationary, slide 33 will be carried rearward and spring will be stretched, so that the complete rearward movement will be permitted. On the return movement bar 54 will engage the rear side of arm 48, see Fig. 6, and will return the carrier to its initial position. As the carrier is returned, the arm 42 thereon will reengage lug 53 on dog 58 and, as the latter is held by its lug 52 from being turned in the opposite direction, the latch 45 will be pushed up by arm 42 as it passes forward, raising the latch to the position of Fig. 14 in which position it will be held by the friction spring 41, and in which position its shoulder 48 will be held above the path of movement of arm 42. Consequently, the next time the carrier is moved rearward, the arm 42 will not engage shoulder 48, so that the carrier will be moved rearward until its front compartment is in register with the delivery passage, and the package therein will be delivered, as shown in Fig. 15.

It will be noted that when the package in any rear compartment has been delivered, its corresponding latch will be raised to its inoperative position and when the machine is serviced and packages are placed in all the compartments all the latches must be returned to the normal position of Fig. 12. To accomplish this readily, a resetting bar 68 is provided, which is provided with notches 69 in which the lug 49 of each latch is located, said notches being of sufficient width to permit the latches 45 to be pushed up to inoperative position as shown in Figs. 14, 15 and the arrangement being such that when bar 68 is pushed down, each latch will be restored to normal position. To provide a convenient means of operating bar 68, a lever 18 is pivotally mounted at 18' on top of the machine, one end of which is connected by a link H to one end of a lever 12 which is pivoted to the frame at 12, the opposite end being pivoted at 68 to bar 68, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the front end of lever 18 is pushed down, bar 68 will also be pushed down resetting the latches 45. A stop lever 13 is provided for limiting the movement of bar 88, said lever being pivotally mounted on the frame at 13' and being pivotally connected at 88 to bar 88. Stop pins 13 are mounted in the frame to limit the swinging movement of lever 13.

While in the above described construction the carriers are only provided with two compartments, the generic principles involved may be employed if the number of compartments are to be increased, the only modification necessary, aside from variations in size being a correspond ing variation in the stop latch device. If a carrier is to be provided with three compartments, the form of latch shown in Fig. 16 would be employed. In this instance a latch 15 is provided with two stop shoulders 16 and TI and two dogs 18 and 19, all of which are similar to the corresponding parts previously described. With this arrangement, when the carrier is moved rearwardly the first time, the arm 42 will engage the shoulder 16, and its rearward movement will be arrested at a point at which the package in the rearmost compartment will be discharged and on the return movement arm 42 will engage dog 18 and lift the latch 15 to the first dotted line position of Fig. 16. Then, on the next operation, arm 42 will engage shoulder TI and movement of the carrier will be arrested at a position in which the package in the middle compartment will be discharged, and on the return movement the arm 42 will engage dog 19 and lift the latch to the second dotted line position of Fig. 16, so that on the next operation the carrier will be moved rearward sufficiently to discharge the package from the front compartment.

As the sales of one particular kind of candy bar may be considerably greater than the sales on others, a compartment 80 is provided in the lower portion of the machine in which half a dozen, or more of such bars may be placed in a stack, and an ejector 8| is provided which is arranged to engage the bottom package of the stack and deliver it to the delivery passage 20 when reciprocated. Said ejector 8| is mounted to slide horizontally in tracks 83 at each end, and, to equalize this motion, a pair of arms 84 are mounted on a shaft 84', at the opposite ends thereof and are engaged with pins 81' at each end of the ejector. An arm 82 is fixed on said ejector 8| and is arranged similarly to the arms on the carriers, so that when the pointer 28 is adjusted opposite arm 82 and the actuating bar 85 is operated, the dog 31 will engage arm 82 and the ejector will be moved rearward and discharge the bottom package. On the return movement the bar 54 will return the ejector 8| to its initial-position, so'that the operation may be repeated.

To prevent access to the package containing compartments when the operating bar '65 is pulled out, a closing plate or shutter 85 is mounted on a shaft 86 in position to close the lower end of the delivery passageas shown in Fig. 8. To operate said plate, a partial gear 8'! is mounted on shaft 86 and is arranged in mesh with a gear 88 on shaft 63, see Figs. 4 and 9, so that, when bar 65 is pulled out, plate 85 is immediately moved from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 8 and is locked in this position during the remainder of the outward movement of bar 65 and the first-part of the inward movement of said bar. Then on the last part of the inward movement of said bar the plate is swung back to its full line position of Fig. 8, so that the package which has previously been discharged into the delivery passage will be permitted to slide into the trough 22, where it may be secured. The return movement of bar 65 is assisted by a spring 90, acting on an arm 9| pivotally mounted at 9|, which is engaged with the'bar.

I claim:

1. In a dispensing machine, having a vertically disposed delivery passage, a series of package containers arranged one above another each having a plurality of compartments, one in front of the other, and each movable into a position to discharge a package contained in each compartment thereof into saidpassage, an ejector adjustable into operative relation with any one of said containers, operating means for actuating said ejector in any one of its positions of adjustment to move the corresponding container into a package discharging position, means to control the operation of said ejector, on the initial ejecting movement thereof, to limit the movement of the container which it is actuating to a position in which the package will be discharged into said passage from the rearmost compartment and, on a subsequent operation thereof, will -move the container to a position in which the package in the front compartment will be discharged.

2. In a dispensing machine, having a vertically disposed delivery passage, a series of package containers arranged one above another each having a plurality of compartments, one in front of the other, and each movable into a position to discharge a package contained in each compartment thereof into said passage, an ejector adjustable into operative relation with any one of said containers, operating means for actuating said ejector in any one of its positions of adjustment to move the corresponding containers into a package discharging position, means to control the operation of said ejector, on the initial ejecting movement thereof, to limit the movement of the container which it is actuating to a position in which the package will be discharged into said passage from the rearmost compartment and on subsequent operations thereof will move the container to positions in which the next compartments towards the front will be moved into discharging position successively.

3. In a dispensing machine having a vertically extending delivery passage in the rear thereof, a series of package containers aranged one above another, each having a plurality of compartments arranged one in front of another and each rearwardly movable into positions to discharge a package into said passage from each of the compartments thereof, an ejector aranged for vertical adjustment into operative relation with any one tainer when first operated at a position in whichv a package will be discharged from the rearmost compartment thereof and on subsequent opera tions thereof to arrest its rearward movement at a position in which the next compartment towards the front will be moved into discharging position.

4. In a dispensing machine having a delivery passage at the rear thereof, a series of package containers arranged one above another and each having a plurality of compartments one in front of another and being rearwardly movable to deliver a package to said passage from all of said compartments, an ejector vertically adjustable into operative relation with any one of said containers, operating means for actuating said ejector when in any one of its positions to move the corresponding container into any one of its delivering positions, intercepting devices normally arranged to arrest the initial rearward movement of each container when actuated at a position in which a package in the rearmost compartment thereof will be discharged into said passage and means for moving each intercepting device to an inoperative position on the return movement of the corresponding container, whereby on the next rearward movement of the container the movement will be continued to a position in which the package in the next compartment to the rearmost compartment will be discharged.

5. In a dispensing machine having a vertically extending delivery passage in the rear thereof, a series of horizontally disposed shelves arranged one above another in spaced relation and terminating at said passage, a bottomless carrier slidably mounted on each shelf, each having a plurality of compartments arranged one in front of another in position to be successively held in register with said passage as the carrier is moved rearwardly, an ejector arranged for vertical adjustment into operative relation'with any one of said carriers, an actuator for operating said ejector in any of its positions of adjustment to move a carrier rearwardly to a package discharging position, and automatic means for arresting the initial rearward movement of each carrier at a position in which the innermost compartment thereof will be held in register with said passage and for arresting the next rearward movement thereof at a position in which thenext compartment thereto will be in register with said passage.

6. In a'dispensing machine having a delivery passage at the rear thereof, a carrier having a plurality of package receiving compartments arranged one in front of another and rearwardly movable to deliver a package from each compartment to said passage, means to move said carrier to its several discharging positions and to return it to initial position, a stop device arranged to arrest the movement of said carrier when it has been moved to a position in which the package will be discharged from the rearmost compartment and means for moving said stop device to an inoperative position on the return movement of the carrier, whereby on the next rearward movement of the carrier the movement will be continued to a position in which a package will be discharged from the next compartment towards the front.

'7. In a dispensing machine having a delivery passage at the rear thereof, a carrier having a plurality of package receiving compartments arranged one in front of another and rearwardly movable to deliver a package from each compartment to said passage, means to move said carrier to its several discharging positions and for returning it to its initial position, a stop device arranged to arrest the movement of said carrier when it has been moved to a position in which the package will be discharged from the. rearmost compartment, a dog pivoted on said stop device and arranged to be engaged by said carrier on its return movement to move said stop device into an inoperative position, whereby on the next rearward movement thereof it will be moved to a position in which a package will be discharged from the compartment next towards the front.

8. In a dispensing machine having a delivery passage at the rear thereof, a carrier having a plurality of package receiving compartments arranged one in front of another and rearwardly movable to deliver a package from each compartment to said passage and forwardly movable to return it to initial position, an ejector having a rearwardly extending support, a main slide and an auxiliary slide mounted on said support and movable rearwardly thereon, a spring connecting said slides, an actuator engaged with said main slide and arranged to move it rearwardly, means on said auxiliary slide for engaging said carrier and so arranged that when said main slide is moved rearwardly said auxiliary slide will move the carrier in the same direction, a stop device arranged to arrest the rearward movement of the carrier at a position in which a package in the rearmost compartment will be discharged into said passage, whereby on continued movement of said main slide said spring will be stretched, and means for moving said stop device to an inoperative position on the return movement of said carrier, whereby on the next rearward movement of said main slide said carrier will be moved to a position in which a package will be discharged from the next compartment towards the front.

9. In a dispensing machine having a series of carriers arranged one above another in a vertical stack and each horizontally movable from a package receiving to a package discharging position, an ejector vertically adjustable into operative relation with any one of said carriers, a rigid operating bar extending vertically for the entire height of said stack and arranged when moved laterally operatively to engage said ejector in all positions thereof, horizontally movable sup ports to which said bar is rigidly connected at each end, a shaft having a rack and pinion connection at each end with said supports, and an operating device arranged to rotate said shaft.

10. In a dispensing machine having a vertically disposed series of package containers each having a front and rear compartment, an ejector arranged for adjustment into operative relation with any one of said containers, means for operating said ejector and means to control the operation thereof, when set in operative relation with any one of said containers, to deliver a package from the corresponding rear compartment on the first operation thereof and to deliver a package from the front compartment on a subsequent operation thereof when set in the same position.

11. In a dispensing machine having a vertically disposed series of package containers, each having a front compartment arranged to contain a package in position for inspection and a supplemental compartment adapted to contain a similar package, an ejector arranged for adjustment into operative relation with any one of said containers, means for operating said ejector when in any one of its said positions, and means to control the operation of said ejector, when set in operative relation with any one of said containers, to deliver a package from the corresponding supplemental compartment on the first operation thereof and to deliver a package from the front compartment on a subsequent operation thereof.

12. In a dispensing machine, a vertically disposed series of front compartments and a similarly disposed series of rear compartments, each adapted to contain a package, an ejector arranged for adjustment into operative relation with any one of said front compartments, means for operating said ejector when disposed in operative relation with any one of said front compartments to deliver a package from the corresponding rear compartment on an initial movement thereof, and to deliver a package from the front compartment on a further movement thereof and means for arresting the movement of said ejector at the end of said initial movement on the first operative movement thereof and for permitting a complete operative movement thereof when subsequently operated.

13. In a dispensing machine, a vertically disposed series of front compartments each arranged to contain a package in position for inspection and a supplemental compartment for each front compartment each adapted to contain a package similar to that in the corresponding front compartment, an ejector arranged for manual adjustment into operative relation with any one of said front compartments, means to actuate said ejector, when in any one of its positions of adjustment, to deliver a package from the corresponding supplemental compartment and then from the front compartment successively and means to arrest the operative movement of said ejector and to return it to its initial position when a package has been delivered from the supplemental compartment on the first operative movementthereof and to permit movement to deliver a package from the front compartment on a subsequent operative movement.

FRANCIS C. DU GRENIER. 

